Netflix stock surges with Internet video streaming

By the Associated Press | January 4, 2012 | 9:03 PM EST

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Netflix has released some statistics that indicated the video subscription service must be doing something right, even though investors and customers have been ridiculing it for much of the past six months.

The company says more than 20 million subscribers worldwide watched more than 2 billion hours of old TV shows and movies on devices with high-speed Internet connections. The numbers released Wednesday contributed to an 11 percent surge in Netflix Inc.'s stock price. The shares gained $8.21 to finish at $80.45. It's Netflix's highest closing price in seven weeks.

The stock still remains far below of its all-time high of nearly $305 in mid-July. The steep decline followed a customer backlash triggered by Netflix's decision to raise its U.S. prices for Internet video and DVD-by-mail rentals by 60 percent.